Cilia under a microscope
Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia or PCD is a genetic condition which affects the tiny hairs that line the passage of the nose and lungs.
The hairs should sweep away damaging foreign bodies like bacteria, but in children with PCD the cilia (left) can't move in the normal way.
As a result, children have an increased risk of infection, particularly in their lungs,
which can lead to permanent damage in the most severe cases.
It also causes infertility in boys because the
tails of sperm beat in a similar way to cilia.
The molecular genetics team at the UCL Institute of Child Health in London recently identified a gene that's responsible for many cases of PCD.
With funding from Jeans for Genes the team, led by
Dr Hanna Mitchison, is able to continue its research into this rare genetic condition. They hope to ultimately develop methods for diagnosis and perhaps eventually prevention.